Bangkok

[kpol]

MH and I are traveling to Thailand in a few weeks and will be staying in Bangkok for two nights before we head to Phuket. We have everything in Phuket booked but are stuck on the Bangkok portion. Any recommendations on things to do? Best places to stay?


Thanks!

[mangobanana]

We stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton the last time we were there and liked it. Nice rooms, good location, and a great international breakfast buffet. It was right on the river (and it was nice to be on the same side of the river as most of the places we wanted to see/easier access to public transportation).

Just walking around the different neighborhoods in Bangkok can be a feast for the senses, so make sure to set aside some unscheduled time to do that. I'd definitely recommend visiting the Grand Palace, and there are tons of smaller temples all over that you can visit too. Chatuchak market is fun to explore if you're there on a weekend, or if you're looking for shopping in more of a traditional mall, MBK. Have fun!

[Raggedeannie]

I live in Bangkok! I don't have any recommendations of where to stay but I think you will appreciate it if you are close to public transit (BTS or MRT). I would also mention that the food is fantastic and street food is safe if you want to do BKK on the cheap.
Some key sights include Wat Pho, Wat Arun, and the Grand Palace. You can actually do these in one day if you are pressed for time and have the energy.
A couple other ideas which are popular include a night bike tour (I did one through Grasshopper tours) or a cooking class (check out tripadvisor for recommendations on which company to use).
I would second Chatuchak if you are here on the weekend. It is only open on the weekend.

[mdgirl]

We stayed at the Navalai River Resort and it was perfect for us. I liked being close to Khao San (always lively pretty much around the clock), it's right on a ferry stop, the rooms were great, and it was pretty inexpensive. My favorite thing we did was Wat Arun.

[basilosaurus]

We were only there for a night, but we stayed here and loved it. www.phranakorn-nornlen.com/

Inexpensive, not an impersonal hotel, just fantastic, plus tasty breakfast. We arranged transportation for them to pick us up at the airport since our flight arrived around 2am (where they greeted us with delicious lemongrass drinks). It was something like $30, totally worth it at that time of night IMO. We were going to do that to return to the airport, but they called us a cab to save money. It's walking distance to one of the markets and water taxi pickups. I think we just bought an unlimited day pass and mostly got around that way.

We managed to see Wat Pho and Arun is an easy half day. Be aware that even men have to have covered legs. We learned that the hard way. The Palace was closed b/c the king's sister's funeral was there or something, so I can't tell you anything about that.

I don't know if you should bother with chinatown since you get similar sights and smells in Korea IMO, plus, IIRC, you went to or are planning on Hong Kong.

We did a cooking class in Chiang Mai and it was one of our traveling highlights. So, definitely do that in Bangkok if you're not going to do it elsewhere.

[kpol]

Thanks for all the help!

[chicago]

Love Bangkok! We stayed at the Millennium Hilton on the river, which had a lovely view and an awesome rooftop terrace. We signed up for Hilton Honors before our trip and got a free upgrade when we checked in, giving us free internet and access to the rooftop concierge lounge (free snacks and Happy Hour drinks).

We also had two great days of tours with Tours with Tong. We were able to see and learn a lot.